Micah Richards urges ‘nervous wreck’ England star to ‘calm down’ in possession in the Three Lions’ shock 2-1 defeat by Greece at Wembley

Jordan Pickford’s nervous energy set the tone for England’s poor performance in the 2-1 defeat to Greece, claims former Three Lions defender Micah Richards.

Greece were good value for their victory on Thursday evening, having the ball in the England net five times, although three of their goals were disallowed.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored both goals – including a 94th-minute winner – to dampen the intrigue created by some creative and attacking display from Lee Carsley.

Of particular concern was the performance of Everton stopper Jordan Pickford, who was a far cry from the level normally shown when playing for the Three Lions. And Richards believes this had an impact on the entire team.

“Pickford was like a nervous wreck.” He continued The Rest is Football podcast. “It set the tone for everything. I was like “come on Pickford, I’m your biggest fan, but please calm down”.’

The Everton stopper has been criticized for his performances at the start of the season

Micah Richards claimed Pickford looked like a ‘nervous wreck’ on Thursday night

The 30-year-old was criticized at the start of this season, which started with four consecutive defeats for his club in the Premier League.

In those games, Pickford conceded 13 goals and led to reports that Sean Dyche was ready to ax his number one. It was claimed that Dyche was eyeing a move for Newcastle player Nick Pope in January if Pickford’s performances did not improve.

Both Pickford and the Toffee’s form has improved in recent times, with the stopper saving a penalty to keep a clean sheet and earn Everton a point against Newcastle last week.

But at Wembley the early jitters of the season were visible again. Pickford was also singled out by Roy Keane, who said his carelessness on the ball was a concern.

“That sends a message through the whole team: the lack of concentration level, the lack of urgency,” Keane said of Pickford’s first-half performance on ITV.

‘What is he doing? Do it quickly – not a good message for Pickford to send,” he said, after Pickford lost possession well out of bounds and needed Levi Colwill to save him.

Roy Keane also slammed the goalkeeper for a lack of concentration that spread throughout the team

Vangelis Pavlidis scored a brace – including a 94th-minute winner – to set up a famous win for the visitors

In the second half a careless throw from Pickford put the ball straight into Greece’s hands and it was fortunate they did not score.

In the player ratings of Mail Sport from the English capital, the English goalkeeper – typically so reliable for his country – scored a 3.5.

Keane then tore the England defense apart due to a perceived lack of desire. Pavlidis was able to keep the ball from several players in the English region without a stiff challenge before his first goal in the 49th minute.

Although disappointed by the result, Gary Lineker struck a different note, saying he was pleased to see Carsley adopt a ‘bold and imaginative’ strategy. His only hope is that he will succeed next time.

‘I felt for it [the defence] a bit behind because they were open to the counter-attack, but I don’t really mind that.’ Lineker added to the Rest is Football podcast. ‘It’s like watching Tottenham, I enjoy watching Tottenham because that’s the type of football I like.

Gary Lineker said he was happy to see Lee Carsley adopt a bold strategy but admitted his plan backfired

‘I like entertaining football. I don’t want to watch turgid football with the ball being passed in the final third by your own team. I want to see attacking football, so I won’t go into too much detail at the moment.

‘I thought it was daring and imaginative, but it backfired [Carsley] tonight, but I hope this will not be the case in the future.’